Who We Fight For
by PenPatronus
Summary: Edward hears news that devastates the Quilites: Tanya's clan has captured Jacob. Meanwhile the Volturi, bored for a century until they met Bella, have uncovered powers that will change the balance between humans and monsters Bella x Edward, Alice x Jasper DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. Honeymoon in the Sun

**Author's Note:** This first chapter is very much rated "R"! The majority will be PG-13. This story will be at least a half-dozen chapters long so stick with me! Reviews are appreciated.

**Summary: **While on his honeymoon with Bella, Edward hears news that devastates the Quilites: Tanya's clan has captured Jacob. Though there's no reason to think Jake's still alive, the Cullens decide to help - but is there a traitor setting everyone up? How far will Tanya go to claim Edward? Meanwhile the Volturi, bored for a century until they met Bella, have uncovered powers that will change the balance between humans and monsters. Only the Cullens can stop them - but do they stand a chance against Jane, Alec and a city full of deadly vampires? Bella x Edward, Bella x Jake, Alice x Jasper, Esme x Carlisle, Rosalie x Emmett.

The Twilight Saga

**Who We Fight For**

PenPatronus

Preface:

They were trapped in Volturra. Everything was against them. The Volturi knew all of the Quilites' weaknesses and had neutralized all of the Cullens' strengths. They were outnumbered and overpowered. Edward held Bella's left hand, fingering her wedding ring. She tried not to stare at the bodies at their feet. They could only watch as Alec took the goblet from Argus, and announced that he was about to become a god.

Chapter One:

**Honeymoon in the Sun**

Isabella Cullen stood barefoot in the meadow in her wedding dress, and she couldn't have stopped herself from smiling even if she had the strength of a vampire.

Alice had surpassed herself with decorations for the first afternoon of Bella and Edward's honeymoon. From half of the surrounding tree branches hung wind chimes and from the other half lanterns of glowing candles that smelled of vanilla and plumeria. There were as many rose petals scattered on the ground as blades of grass. Bella was passing the time Edward spent hunting by walking in circles around the perimeter, dragging her feet through nature and setting off the wind chimes with the tips of her manicured nails. Their meadow looked, sounded and would soon very much _feel_ like Heaven.

The wedding had gone smoothly with two exceptions: one that upset Bella and one that upset Edward. Bella had felt a bit distracted because Jacob Black was still missing. Edward had felt a bit distracted because Rosalie had announced her protest to the wedding and left to spend a week in Alaska with Tanya. Alice, strangely, had also appeared distracted, but everyone assumed she was concentrating on the futures that swirled around her head.

Bella was concentrating so hard on the meadow, Jacob's absence, and nervousness about sealing their marriage that when Edward returned he had long decadent moments to watch her. When their eyes did meet, hers brown and his the lightest of amber, they were 90 love and a heavy-set 10 lust. Edward strode forward without speaking. With cold, trembling fingers he started slowly releasing each button from armpit to waist of Bella's sleeveless dress. The gown crumpled down no further than her knees, and Bella tripped while wading out of it.

Edward caught her about the waist. "Not the best time to be clumsy," Bella muttered, marveling at the feel of Edward's cold arms uninterrupted by clothing. He smiled, far more interested in the clothing that remained, bringing his left hand up her spine to finger the clasp of her bra and his right down to touch the waistband of her panties. He kept his fingers there while Bella clumsily undid the buttons of his suit. When she leaned in close, her body flush with his, her hair under his nose, and exhaled, Edward suddenly stiffened.

"Slowly, love," he whispered. "Very slow. I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't, you can't," she soothed. Bella exposed his chest, then his shoulders, and then his shirt joined the flower petals on the grass. "Rumor has it that the slower the better anyway," she whispered, mesmerized by his muscles. She put her warm palms against his chest and with a shiver, Edward promptly clung her body to his and kissed her. His lips were cold, but hers were boiling hot so together there was a comfortable warmth. Bella hung on him as his lips and tongue, with his vampire speed, seemed to be everywhere: her jaw, her neck, her shoulder, the inside of her wrist, her ear, her belly, her breasts...

Suddenly Edward growled, and whether from his teeth or his fingers or sheer _wanting_, her bra was undone and he had his face buried between her breasts. Bella cried out, surrendering herself to pleasure when his fingers wrapped around one nipple and his tongue around the other. And Bella had her hands first at his belt and then beneath it, and she unleashed her own growl when skin twice as hard as his usual marble connected with her touch.

Edward froze. Only his heaving breaths moved, so wildly. "Are you ok?" Bella whispered.

"Give me a moment." They breathed together in the twinkling meadow until Edward spoke again. "Want to hear something funny?"

"As in 'knock knock'?"

He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "I never thought my...instincts would want anything as fiercely as...drinking you. But..." Slowly, Edward brought a finger under Bella's panties, and then _up_. "But more than wanting to bite you, I want to be in-"

With vampiric strength and speed, Bella ripped Edward's pants off. And he was standing there in nothing but his boxers. "I want," she stammered. "Take them off, I want you-" she grabbed the waistband and pulled the underwear down, sinking to the grass with it. Right then, _right then_ the clouds above them parted and the afternoon sky was full of direct sunlight and Edward, every single square inch of him was _sparkling_. Bella imagined him in her, his sparkles lighting her up from the inside. She saw herself glowing as brightly as him.

Edward stood tense and stiff and looked down at her through glazed, heavy-lidded eyes. And then he knelt, first onto one knee and then both. His cold hands rested on her hips before gliding down and linking around the waistband of her silk underwear. In a gentle but authoritative voice Edward said, "Stand up, Bella."

She obeyed. As she went up her panties went down: past her hips, around her knees, to her ankles. Edward's eyes didn't follow its descent. Their amber depths were fixated on her brunette curls. He seemed to be struggling to regulate his breathing: reining each breath in and rationing the next out. And then he leaned forward, and his nose was against her, inhaling her. His lips began to move and he was kissing as if with her mouth. His tongue flicked out, exploring, tasting. He released warm air across his cold tongue and Bella shook so violently that she had to grasp his shoulders to remain standing.

"Oh, Edward," she moaned.

"Bella, Bella, Bella..." Every syllable triggered another shiver in her. And then he was on top of her, and he was kissing her with all his might...

A dozen or so minutes or later, when Bella had conscious thought again she found her limbs wrapped around Edward's and a relaxation in her body she'd never felt before.

"Whoa," Bella breathed. "Thank you, Edward…for trying this, I mean. I mean, while I'm human. That was so—"

"Human…I've never felt so human, even when I was." He was staring at her with a delicate smile. Edward leaned into her mouth and grinned wider, whispering, "Bella, my wife, I love-"

And then he suddenly froze. He stared into Bella's eyes as if studying her through a microscope. But his eyes weren't on her, they were inward along with the rest of his senses. And then Edward's jaw flopped open in horror. He rolled off Bella onto his back, and lay gasping in the grass.

"Edward?" Bella gasped. She twisted until she was leaning over him and brushing his hair with her fingers. "Edward, what is it?"

He said the last thing she expected: "_Seth_." Edward licked his lips and his eyes suddenly focused on hers again. "Seth! Bella, his thoughts are screaming at me..._for _me. He...he needs my help."

Bella curled against him as a wave of embarrassment knocked her over. "He's nearby?"

"No." Edward closed his eyes and winced. "The wolves...they're all in pain." He opened his eyes and his gaze shifted from studying to...pitying. "_Bella_..."

Bella felt her blood solidify into ice. All of the warmth of the world tapered off with his voice. "What? Edward, _what_?"

"Embry and Quil went after...after Jacob. They followed his scent all the way up to...Bella, he was in Alaska and Tanya's clan...Bella, they've _captured him_!"

**To Be Continued**


	2. The Council of Carlisle

The Twilight Saga

**Who We Fight For**

PenPatronus

Chapter 2:

**The Council of Carlisle**

The Cullens and the Quilites were in the forest between Forks and La Push, lined up on either side of the border like opposing football teams. "Sam, just allow me to speak to Tanya," said Carlisle. "We could fix this without violence. Your pack helped us with the newborns. We'd like to return the favor."

"I picked up the scent of one of your coven in Denali!" Embry growled. "The blonde. How do we know you didn't help them take Jake?"

The pack, the coven and Bella turned to stare expectedly at Emmett, who cleared his throat before he spoke. "Rose went to visit Tanya a week ago. If she had any thoughts about hurting any of you, Edward would've heard it. She's probably trying to convince them to release Jake as we speak."

"It does feel suspicious…" muttered Sam. "And neither Embry or Quil could hear Jacob's thoughts so we don't even know how they managed to capture him, or exactly who was involved."

"How it happened doesn't matter now," said Esme from beside Carlisle. "What matters is bringing Jacob home."

"Agreed," conceded Quil. Embry wasn't quite as convinced. From between Edward and Alice, Jasper unleashed a breeze of calmness, aiming at the vampires and wolves alike.

"I don't want anyone hurt," Carlisle said, looking at his family and Sam's. "And I want to preserve the alliances between the Cullens and the Quilites, the Cullens and the Conlins—"

Bella looked at Edward for an explanation. "Tanya's last name," he mouthed to her.

"…and perhaps even starting an alliance between the Conlins and the Quilites. They don't drink humans either."

"Fat chance," Leah Clearwater snorted. Seth growled at her and though all of them were in human form, Leah twitched. Edward chuckled at Seth appreciatively.

Sam sighed and folded his arms to his chest. "I admire your optimism, Carlisle. But you'll have to forgive me if I don't want to make friends until my pack brother is back in one piece."

Carlisle nodded. "I'd feel the same way. If it's agreed then, Edward and I will travel to Alaska tonight. Alice?"

Pairs of eyes, brown, blue and amber all focused on the young, pixie-ish Alice.

"Alice, have you seen anything that might help us? Anything about Tanya or Ingrid?"

Alice looked around at everyone, especially Bella, before saying apologetically, "No. I haven't seen anything."

"Well, with the wolves involved that's to be exp—"

"No, Carlisle? I mean…" Alice turned to Edward and grasped his forearm. "I should've told you…told you all before but for a couple days now, since before the wedding, my visions have been…off."

Jasper frowned at her, concerned. "You mean…inaccurate?"

"No, _off_," said Alice. "I…I haven't seen any visions of the future."

Bella stepped away from Edward to comfort her sister-in-law. "Alice, has that ever happened before?"

"No…never."

"What…" Bella struggled to summon the right question. "What does this mean?"

"I have…two theories. Number one," Alice held up a forefinger, "there is no future."

From between Quil and Embry, Paul muttered, "That can't be good."

"Two," Alice's middle finger extended, "someone or something is blocking my powers."

Edward frowned. "I don't like this. Right before the wedding? Right when Jacob is kidnapped? Not a coincidence."

"You'll be going into Denali blind," said Jasper. "Carlisle, Emmett and I should go with—"

"No. I need you as back-up if negotiations don't work out."

"You'd fight Tanya and her coven?" whispered Esme.

Carlisle ignored the question and turned again to Sam. "If you don't hear from us in 36 hours—"

"That might be too late!" Seth shouted.

Sam hushed him. He crossed the boundary and held out his palm to Carlisle's, who shook it. "Thank you."

"Bella." Edward gathered his new wife into a hug. "Stay close to Alice and Emmett, all right? I'll be back before you know it."

"Be careful," Bella whispered. They kissed, and then he was gone—running north with Carlisle. Sam nodded to Bella, and the wolves transformed and also disappeared into the woods. Alice put her arm around Bella's shoulders, and the Cullens walked back to the mansion.

--

In a steel cage a hundred feet in the ice beneath Denali, Jacob Black sat cross-legged on the cold stone in his black sweatpants. He'd had nothing to eat or drink since he'd been captured, and neither food nor water had been his priority before then. He'd only run—sprinted—away from Forks—from Bella—with all his speed and strength. He'd tried to escape his thoughts of her, and now she was all he could think about. He hadn't bothered to say goodbye to her, or his father Billy, or Sam and the pack. They'd think he'd abandoned them, when he didn't resurface. Perhaps years would pass before they consented that he had left, never to return. It would never occur to the Quilites that a coven of vampires had captured the rogue werewolf.

Jacob felt hopeless. He put his face in his hands, bruised from hours of trying to bust through the steel walls, and mourned for himself.

Suddenly the rusty grinding of the door opening snatched Jacob's attention. He stood up on his bare feet and prepared to transform into a werewolf if he had to defend himself. But almost immediately he relaxed. In the doorway stood two small children. Vampires, from the smell of them, but tiny and harmless.

Jacob smirked at the girl. "Hi there, princess. Where's your mommy?"

The girl simply smiled and turned to wink at the boy. When her eyes rested on Jacob again, he began to scream.

**To Be Continued**


	3. Two Ambushes

The Twilight Saga

**Who We Fight For**

PenPatronus

Chapter 3:

**Two Ambushes**

_12 hours after "The Council":_

Edward froze in mid-stride, and Carlisle had to leap to keep from running over him. He then doubled back, put a hand on Edward's shoulder, called him son, and asked what was wrong. Edward stared at his surrogate father as if trying to see through him. He was trembling, but not from the ice and snow of the Alaskan atmosphere around them. He looked like he'd not only seen a ghost but was currently being strangled by it.

"Edward—Edward!"

"I can't hear your thoughts."

"_What_?"

Edward swallowed empty air. "It's like a switch in my head was just flipped. I was listening to you, and trying to focus on the patterns in Denali that I'm familiar with…and now it's all gone. There's no one but me in there…" Edward tapped his own forehead and frowned. "It's kind of lonely…"

"Just like Alice," Carlisle whispered. His amber eyes squinted through the storming snow around them and tried to see any enemies in the mountains and valleys of ice. "Just like Alice suddenly lost her powers. What do you make of this?"

"I don't know…The coincidences are piling up, Carlisle." The two Cullens took defensive positions back to back and continued to survey the area. "I can't smell a damn thing through all this. How far are we from Denali?"

"About seven miles or so. I know! I know, coincidence. Why would your powers suddenly be blocked right when we're heading into the heart of their territory? Unless…unless they knew we were coming…"

"Unless they knew _I _was coming."

Edward's voice had a regretful edge to it, and Carlisle saw why half a moment later. From 360 degrees around them, shadowy figures began to pop up out of the snow from hidden tunnels. Within moments the two Cullens were surrounded by cloaked vampires, all of them growling with their teeth bared. Three separated themselves from the crowd of fifty. Carlisle nodded at each of them as he said their names: "Hello Tanya, Jane…Rose."

Rose smiled her sweet smile, a smile that had rotted. "Welcome, Carlisle. You look surprised."

Carlisle was trying not to, but his eyes betrayed him. Edward on the other hand had already transitioned from shock to annoyance to fury. He crouched in front of his father and unleashed a feral growl at the three females.

"Oh, is that how you welcome old friends nowadays?" Tanya purred.

"It's more polite than an ambush!" Edward countered. "Let me guess, Tanya. The Volturi got too anxious about the Cullens' recent excursions with humans and werewolves and newborns and to get an edge, they made you an offer you couldn't refuse. What did Jane promise you for betraying us?"

Tanya blinked. "You."

"And what do you get in return, Rose?" Carlisle asked softly, almost politely.

"I get that Bella _bitch_ out of my life!" Edward's hands clenched into fists. Rosalie's rotten smile widened. "And the Volturi have been busier than we thought, Carlisle. They've offered me what you've never dared to dream of. They're going to make me human again." Her grin was so wide it seemed to stretch her face beyond her ears. "Emmett, too. Whether he wants it or not."

"Enough chit-chat," said Jane, sounding bored. She examined her finely manicured nails and sighed. "Inject them."

Rosalie sprung forward and before Edward could react, she had her teeth at Carlisle's neck, and Tanya had her teeth in his. The white snow around Edward burned to blackness. The last thing he heard was Tanya's delighted giggle and Carlisle's moan of pain.

--

For someone who didn't have to breathe, Alice gasped so absurdly loudly that Bella nearly rolled right out of her own bed. Bella looked at the window and door of her bedroom, but they were securely shut. No enemies were popping out from under her bed, and unfortunately Edward had not miraculously appeared. Not that she expected him to, he'd only been gone a dozen hours.

Bella scrambled over to where Alice sat stonily in a rocking chair, on guard duty while they remaining Cullens were hunting or at the mansion. Bella had missed that look Alice had on her face. She'd forgotten how much it comforted her. Alice was frowning, squinting. She was seeing the future.

"Alice, what is it?" Bella kneeled, grabbed her sister-in-law's forearms and tried to shake them but her elbows were rooted to her knees like tree trunks.

"Oh," Alice gasped again. "Oh…oh _no_!" Her eyes widened at Bella. "That's how—Edward—Bella, they're coming for you, run—"

To Bella, it was like Alice had turned to stone. Everything in the world, but her, had turned to stone. The fan whirling in the opposite corner, her alarm clock, Charlie's snoring from down the hall, all of that suddenly froze. It wasn't long before Bella figured out why.

Her window snapped open. Alec of the Volturi climbed through. Behind him came two vampires Bella knew, Felix and Demetri, and another she didn't. The fourth one was dragging the unconscious body of Emily, Sam Uley's disfigured mate.

Bella sized all of this up in a matter of seconds, and the weight of it all glued her knees to the carpet. She suddenly realized that while in Volturra she hadn't learned of Alec's special powers. Apparently he was showing her now.

"Hello again, Isabella."

**To Be Continued**


End file.
